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BBC is to launch an immersive world for children this summer, according to reports in The Guardian.

CBBC World will be aimed at children from six to 13. The environment will let them create avatars which can play games and music, as well as create their own content.

The report highlights the similarity to Second Life, though one hopes the parallel won't be drawn too far.

The BBC also has aspirations far beyond the basic wish-fulfillment offered by Second Life. BBC children's controller Richard Deverell said:

Over time we hope to enrich the world with better software. We hope then it can be adapted to make it more personal so it understands what kind of person you are, and offers you things you might like, such as our new show MI High.

CBBC World is a good example of the way we need to go. The thing that interests me is that children are at the vanguard. And that is where we are taking Children's BBC.

Encouraging our children to spend more time online might seem irresponsible when child obesity is such a problem, but if CBBC World could somehow be integrated with a Wii controller then children could exercise in the safety of their own virtual world. The government would then be free to sell off school playing fields, and paedophiles reduced to lurking behind every virtual tree. ®